B-Cycle Program Frozen During Winter Months

DENVER (CBS4)– The season ended on Friday for Denver’s B-Cycle program. The second year of the bicycle sharing program proved to be even more successful than the first.

“These bikes are great,” said one rider.

“It’s really been efficient and convenient for me,” said another.

Denver B-Cycle is America’s first ever bike sharing program to serve a large city.

Riders access the bright red 3-speeds by paying a membership fee. There’s a trip charge for any ride longer than 30 minutes. The bikes are more than twice as heavy as a typical road bike, weighing 56 pounds.

B-Cycle is a non-profit launched with seed money from the City of Denver in 2010. This year the number of bike trips doubled.

“WE had over 200,000 rides taken this year,” said B-Cycle Executive Director Parry Burnap.

Many riders believe the program helps promotes cycling in what’s becoming a great cycling city.

“You know I had a friend come and visit from San Francisco and she was blown away by B-Cycle,” said one rider.

B-Cycle will resume service in March 2012. The program has more than 500 bicycles on the road. Next year, plans call for expanding the number of stations and bikes around the city.